Titilayo Ufomata Appointed Provost at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana
Currently, Dr. Ufomata had served as special advisor to the president and board of trustees at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She first joined the colleges in 2012 as provost and dean of faculty. She will become provost at St. Mary's College on June 1.
Two African Americans Appointed to Dean Posts at Community Colleges
Javon Brame has been named dean of students at Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado and Carol Ash is the new interim dean of the School of Health, Wellness & Public Safety at Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque.
Maryland HBCU Litigation: Déjà Vu, All Over Again
In litigation that has been going on for 12 years and had been sent to mediation in 2013, a three-judge panel ordered the state and representatives of Maryland's four HBCUs to once again enter into mediation. The court gave the parties only to April 30 to come up with a solution to address inequities in the state's higher education system.
Kimberly Mutcherson Is the First African-American Law Dean at Rutgers University in New Jersey
Kimberly Mutcherson has been named co-dean of the Rutgers Law School in Camden. Her appointment makes her the first woman, the first African American, and the first LGBT law dean at Rutgers University.
Coppin State University President Maria Thompson to Step Down at the End of the...
Maria Thompson,the first woman president of Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland, has announced she will retire at the end of the academic year after overcoming recent health challenges. She became president of Coppin State University in 2015.
Shirley Ann Jackson to Remain as President at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Until June 2022
Dr. Jackson was chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 1995 to 1999. She then left government service to take over as the 18th president of RPI in 1999. Dr. Jackson usually ranks at or near the top in rankings of the highest-paid college presidents in the country.
Dorcas Davis Bowles to Serve as Provost at Clark Atlanta University
Dr. Bowles served as provost at Clark Atlanta University from 2003 to 2008 and she served as dean of the university’s School of Social Work on three different occasions. Earlier in her career, Dr. Bowles was a professor and acting dean of the School of Social Work at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Cheryl Green to Lead the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Dr. Cheryl Green has been serving as vice chancellor for student affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Earlier, she was assistant vice president for student affairs at Tennessee State University in Nashville.
The New Chancellor of Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina
Karrie Gibson Dixon has been serving as interim chancellor since April 2018. Before coming to Elizabeth City State University in 2017, Dr. Dixon was a senior administrator for the University of North Carolina System. Most recently, she was vice president for academic and student affairs.
Jamie R. Riley Appointed Dean of Students at the University of Alabama
Dr. Riley was the executive director and chief operating officer of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Earlier in his career, he held student affairs and diversity and inclusion posts, as well as faculty positions at a number of colleges and universities.
African Americans Have Closed the Racial Gap in High School Dropout Rates
In 2016, 6.2 percent of all African Americans ages 16 to 24 did not have a high school diploma and were not enrolled in school. This so-called status dropout rate has dropped significantly for African Americans since the turn of the century.
Koffi Akakpo Named President of Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Kentucky
Currently, Dr. Akakpo serves as vice president for business, administrative, and student services at North Central State College in Mansfield, Ohio. Earlier, he was director of financial planning and management and an adjunct faculty member at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio.
Akin Ogundiran Named Editor-In-Chief of the African Archaeological Review
Dr. Ogundiran is a professor of Africana studies, anthropology, and history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The journal focuses on African archaeology, including topics such as the emergence of modern humans and the earliest manifestation of human culture.
Columbia University Approves an African American and African Diaspora Studies Department
Columbia University plans to hire new faculty who are experts in the field of African American and African diaspora studies and create a Ph.D. program to produce additional innovative scholarship. Additionally, the new department plans to collaborate on cultural projects with the surrounding community in Harlem.
Five Black “Geniuses” Awarded MacArthur Foundation Fellowships
The Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation has announced the selection of 25 individuals in this year’s class of MacArthur Fellows. The honors, frequently referred to as the “Genius Awards,” include a $625,000 stipend over the next five years which the individuals can use as they see fit.
A New $5.3 Million Home for Silent Sam at the University of North Carolina...
The university came to the conclusion that the best course of action was to build a new indoor facility to house the Confederate monument. In addition to the $5.3 million in construction costs, the building will need $800,000 annually for operating funds.
A Strong Vote of Confidence for Swarthmore College President Valerie Smith
Valerie Smith, who took office as the 15th president of highly rated Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania on July 1, 2015, has had her contract extended through 2025. Before becoming president of Swarthmore College, Dr. Smith was dean of the college and the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature at Princeton University.
Sherine Obare Named Dean of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering
Sherine O. Obare has been named dean of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University. She will become the school's second permanent dean on January 14. She has been serving as a professor at Western Michigan University.
Stephon Alexander Elected President of the National Society of Black Physicists
Dr. Alexander has been a professor of physics at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, since 2016. He has been a member of the National Society of Black Physicists since 1990, when he was the only African American physics major at Haverford College in Pennsylvania.
Roslyn Clark Artis Receives Contract Extension as President of Benedict College Through 2026
Dr. Artis became president of Benedict College in June 2017. During her brief tenure as president, Dr. Artis has launched many initiatives aimed at positioning Benedict as a competitive institution. She lowered tuition by 26 percent and raised standards for admission.
Three African Americans Named Rhodes Scholars
A year ago, 10 African-Americans were among the 32 winners of Rhodes Scholarships for Americans. This was the most ever elected in a single U.S. Rhodes class. This year, there are three African Americans among the 32 Rhodes Scholars.
A Trio of African Americans Appointed to Dean Positions at Colleges and Universities
James Frazier will be the next dean of the College of Fine Arts at Florida State University. Toniette Haynes Robinson has been named dean of educational resources at North Lake College and Sylvester Williams will be the new dean of the College of Business and Management at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania.
Ebonya Washington Named the Samuel C. Park Jr. Professor of Economics at Yale University
Dr. Washington has taught at Yale since 2004, when she joined the faculty as an assistant professor of economics. Prior to her most recent appointment, she was the Henry Kohn Associate Professor of Economics.
Keith Jackson Named Dean of the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University
Dr. Jackson had been serving as interim dean since 2017. He has been a member of the music faculty at the university since 1995, serving as both a professor of music and director of the School of Music. He is active in both classical and jazz styles as a performer.
Yolanda Watson Spiva Named President of Complete College America
Complete College America is a national nonprofit organization that works with states to significantly increase the number of Americans with quality career certificates or college degrees and to close educational attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations.
Paul King Named President and CEO of Stanford Children’s Health
Paul King has been serving as executive director of the University of Michigan Health System's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital since 2013. He will begin his new job at Stanford in early 2019.
Anita Jones Thomas Appointed Provost at St. Catherine University in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Dr. Thomas currently serves as the founding dean of the College of Applied Behavioral Sciences at the University of Indianapolis. Earlier, she served on the faculty for 10 years and was associate dean of academic affairs and research in the School of Education at Loyola University in Chicago. She will become provost on June 3, 2019.
Craig Watters to Lead Oklahoma State University’s Riata Institute for Global Social Entrepreneurship
Dr. Watters is a clinical associate professor and the International Entrepreneurship chair. He has been a faculty member at Oklahoma State University since 2011. The new institute will focus on furthering student experiential study, research, and service.
The First Woman of Color to Serve as Dean of the St. Thomas University...
Tamara F. Lawson has been named dean of St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens, Florida. Professor Lawson, who had been serving as interim dean since June 2018, earlier was associate dean for academic affairs from 2017 to June 2018.
Seven African Americans Elected Into the National Academy of Medicine
A JBHE analysis of the list of the 75 members of the latest cohort elected into the National Academy of Medicine finds that it appears that seven, or 9 percent, are Black. Most have current affiliations with academic institutions in the United States.
The Racial Scoring Gap on the SAT College Entrance Examination
The results showed that only 21 percent of African American test takers met the college and career readiness benchmark for both reading and mathematics. Nearly 60 percent of Whites met the readiness benchmarks in both reading and mathematics.
Kimberly Dowdell Elected President of the National Organization of Minority Architects
Kimberly Dowdell is a faculty member in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. She is a licensed architect and partner with Century Partners, a Detroit-based real estate firm focused on equitable neighborhood revitalization.
Patricia Sims Named President of J.F. Drake State Community and Technical College in Alabama
Dr. Sims has 25 years of experience in K-12 and higher education. Most recently, she was the dean of the College of Education at Athens State University in Alabama. Before that, she was the director of student services management and dean of instructional and student services at Drake State.
Kevin Gaines Named to a New Endowed Professorship at the University of Virginia
Dr. Gaines comes to the University of Virginia from Cornell University where he was the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of Africana Studies and History. Previously he has taught at Princeton University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Michigan.
The Racial Poverty Gap and Its Impact on Higher Education
In 2017, nearly 9 million African Americans, 21.2 percent of total Black population, were living below the official poverty line in the United States. Obviously this huge group of African Americans will face difficulty in obtaining higher education, a path that could lead them out of poverty.
Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, Experiences Legal Setback In Accreditation Battle
A federal judge has ruled that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges was within its rights to revoke the accreditation of Paine College in 2016. The college sued the accreditor and has retained its accreditation during the course of the litigation. The college has 30 days to appeal.
